In most of the world, antivaxxers are a fringe minority of no great importance.
In the USA, they have adopted their position as part of their world view, like supporting mass shootings in schools, voting for orange politicians, and attacking their own seat of government.
The correlation is statistically detectable. And so are the results
The rest of the world has pig-headed nutters, but not to the same extent.
www.ft.com
"It would be easy to dismiss this trend as merely exasperating — an obstacle to progress on climate change and a source of irritation at extended family gatherings — but over the past 18 months, the politicisation of attitudes to science may have directly cost as many as 60,000 American lives.
This is the stark implication of a new study from the Yale school of public health, which found that since Covid vaccines became widely available in the US, the mortality rate of registered Republicans in Ohio and Florida climbed by 33 per cent during America’s winter Covid wave last year, compared with just a 10 per cent rise among Democrats."
Some might think this is an example of Darwinism in action.
"By May 2021, with all US adults eligible for vaccination, less than half of Republicans had taken up the offer, compared to 82 per cent of Democrats. Across the Atlantic, Britain put on a much more united front: Labour and Conservative voters alike turned up in droves, with 90 per cent of eligible adults inoculated."
www.ft.com
In the USA, they have adopted their position as part of their world view, like supporting mass shootings in schools, voting for orange politicians, and attacking their own seat of government.
The correlation is statistically detectable. And so are the results
The rest of the world has pig-headed nutters, but not to the same extent.
Tragic fallout from the politicisation of science in the US
Many countries had partisan divides on Covid vaccination, but they were more lethal in the US than anywhere else
www.ft.com
"It would be easy to dismiss this trend as merely exasperating — an obstacle to progress on climate change and a source of irritation at extended family gatherings — but over the past 18 months, the politicisation of attitudes to science may have directly cost as many as 60,000 American lives.
This is the stark implication of a new study from the Yale school of public health, which found that since Covid vaccines became widely available in the US, the mortality rate of registered Republicans in Ohio and Florida climbed by 33 per cent during America’s winter Covid wave last year, compared with just a 10 per cent rise among Democrats."
Some might think this is an example of Darwinism in action.
"By May 2021, with all US adults eligible for vaccination, less than half of Republicans had taken up the offer, compared to 82 per cent of Democrats. Across the Atlantic, Britain put on a much more united front: Labour and Conservative voters alike turned up in droves, with 90 per cent of eligible adults inoculated."
Tragic fallout from the politicisation of science in the US
Many countries had partisan divides on Covid vaccination, but they were more lethal in the US than anywhere else
www.ft.com
